Walsall Under 18s were left frustrated after Accrington Stanley came from behind to snatch all three points on Saturday.
Alex Worley headed the Saddlers into a first half lead as the Miguel Llera’s side controlled the game in the opening 45 minutes.
Despite creating numerous chances, the Saddlers were unable to take them and were punished in the second half as Accrington turned the game on its head.
Walsall’s cause wasn’t helped when Kyle Sharp was given his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card.
Academy boss Miguel Llera admitted his team need to learn the lessons from the game and be more clinical, but he wasn’t too unhappy with how the Saddlers played.
“I’m not disappointed because I think the lads did pretty well,” said Llera.
“We were the better side. The problem in the game was we didn’t take our chances. I can’t say anything bad to the players because from the first minute we showed we were the better side. We scored one and it should have been three or four in the second half, we dominated the game and didn’t give any chances during the first 45 minutes.
“It was a poor pitch, windy, rainy but the team adapted to that really well. They worked like a team and individually pretty well. My message at half time was that we needed one or two more goals to win the game because I knew at any set pieces or any rebounds that they were going to score because they are a tricky team, and a very direct team.
“I was disappointed with the score. They had three shots on target and scored twice whereas we had 12/13 shots and scored once. It’s a game that can be beneficial if the players take it on board.
“I was a bit disappointed because the lesson should have been learned already but I was more disappointed with the Bolton game in the first half than the 90 minutes against Accrington. I like what the team did, apart from not taking our chances but if the players learn to be more clinical then we should be fine.”